Despite Growth in Many Emerging Markets, Worldwide Large Format Printer Shipments Declined 5% in the Third Quarter of 2012, According to IDC

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – While many emerging markets posted growth in the large format printer (LFP) market during the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12), these gains could not offset a decline in total worldwide shipments. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Large Format Printer Tracker, overall shipments in the worldwide LFP market declined 5.0% year over year to just under 73,000 units in 3Q12. Among the emerging regions, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East enjoyed growth, albeit single digit, in the third quarter. However, these gains were not evenly distributed as emerging markets declined 3.9% overall while mature markets declined 5.8% year-over-year.

“Although shipments have slowed over the past year, IDC expects large format printers to remain a significant market in the future,” said Phuong Hang, program manager, Worldwide Large Format Printer Tracker. “LFPs are moving into new applications, especially in graphics, that will help to offset losses caused by the sluggish global economy.”

Technology Highlights

The technical application segment saw 42,500 units shipped in 3Q12, yet declined 3.4% year over year. Despite this contraction, technical remained the larger market segment with 58% share of the total LFP market in the third quarter, up from 57% a year earlier. Mature and emerging markets both declined at about the same rate, with each market having some regions increasing, but offset by declines in other regions.

The graphics application segment fell 7.0% year over year in 3Q12 with shipments of 30,400 units accounting for 42% of the market, down from 43% a year ago. Mature markets showed a higher rate of decline than emerging markets in this segment. The bright spot was Latin America, which showed modest single-digit growth, while all other regions were flat or negative.

Vendor Highlights

Despite a year-over-year decline of 10.1% in shipments, HP remained the global market leader with 42.4% share, a drop of more than two points from a year earlier. HP remains the clear market leader in its traditional area of strength, the technical market, with more than three times the share of its next competitor. HP also held its second place position in the graphics market, trailing market leader Epson.

Epson remains in second place in the LFP market overall, but continues as the leader of the graphics applications segment, with double the share of the next vendor, HP. Shipments declined slightly year-to-year, but Epson was able to hold its share at 20.4% overall. While technical printers are only a small part of its LFP sales, Epson has grown shipments and increased share in this segment over the past year.

Canon’s shipments increased moderately in the third quarter compared to a year earlier, enabling the vendor to increase its share to 16.2% and hold its number 3 position in the overall market. Canon increased its share in both the technical segment, in which it holds the second position, and in the graphic segment, where it is the number 3 vendor.

Following the top three vendors, HP, Epson and Canon, there is a sharp dropoff to the next vendor, Oce, which holds a 3.3% share of the worldwide LFP market. Oce’s shipments and share declined moderately year over year in 3Q12. Oce maintained its number 3 position in the technical segment.

Roland rounded out the top 5 vendors worldwide with a 3.1% share of the overall LFP market. Roland enjoyed 9.3% year-over-year shipment growth in the third quarter, producing a small uptick in overall share. Roland’s strength is the graphics market, in which it held fourth place worldwide, unchanged from a year earlier.

Notes:

IDC tracks A2-A0+ devices in the LFP market

The LFP market includes single-function printers, as well as multifunctional systems (MFPs). Data for all vendors are reported for calendar periods.

About IDC Trackers

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International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. For more than 48 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.